Dead Hope
by JennMel
Summary: One minute Daniel and Vala were running from Ori soldiers. The next they were face to face with Jaffa of Apophis. If that wasn't bad enough, the last thing you want to see when you wake up is a younger version of yourself.
1. Chapter 1

Author Notes: Hi! I haven't written a Stargate SG-1 story in about a year, and thought it about time I write a bit more. This story came from watching Daniel in seasons 9 and 10, and also in season 1 in the same month. I hope it's not too confusing to read as it was for me to write, I tried to make everything clear. And just to clarify, this is NOT a deathfic.

The two timelines are:

-Season 10, Stargate SG-1, after Unending, but assuming that Adria is still poking around the Milky Way. And Season 3, Atlantis, before the series finale.

-Season 2, Stargate SG-1, the next mission after 1969, before the Hathor two-parter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Dead Hope**

Chapter 1

"We gotta go!" Daniel yelled while trying to hold off the Ori soldiers, "Vala! Come on!"

Routine missions. Damn he missed them. They had thought the Goa'uld were bad, they had thought they were at war. Shows how much they knew. The gate began to spin behind him as Cam frantically punched in their address while he and Teal'c lay down cover fire. Vala was running, but was too far away and had no more ammo left. Sam… Daniel shook his head as the Stargate exploded into being, "Jackson, go through!" Mitchell yelled from behind.

"No! You go! We'll be right behind you!" Daniel didn't wait for an answer. He began running back; he wouldn't lose them both. He emptied his last clip into the enemy just as he reached Vala. A roaring overhead indicated an Ori cruiser landing nearby. Grabbing her by the arm, they ran towards the remainder of their team. A burning pain in Daniel's leg caused him to stumble but Vala was holding onto him as much as he was her. Just ahead, Cam and Teal'c leapt through the gate. A horrible cacophony of yelling and white noise filled the air, and in one last leap, the two dived through the Stargate…

…and landed face first in dew soaked grass. Dimly he heard Vala swear something. As his vision began greying from exhaustion and the final inset of shock, Daniel looked up only to register a serpent guard pointing a zat in their faces.

* * *

"Oooo, company." Jack rolled himself smoothly up to a sitting position. Teal'c opened his eyes from his kelnorim, while Carter and Daniel looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces. The Jaffa who had captured them and thrown them down here had clearly stated that 'their lord Apophis' would not be arriving for a few days – something that made Jack all the more adamant that they needed to piss the snake off some more. When they got captured, he expected an immediate audience. That, and they had also watched the guy die in their infirmary quite recently. Seriously, couldn't he just have the decency to stay dead? 

The First Prime strode into the corridor outside their cell, and opened the door. Behind him, four more guards were dragging two very limp looking forms, clad in black. "Sir…" Cater muttered in his ear, "They have patches from the SGC."

"Crap." Jack muttered. General Hammond must have sent a rescue team. He winced as they were thrown in; one of them had a very nasty looking wound on his leg.

Captain Carter made her way forwards as soon as the Jaffa had left, but the smaller of the two arrivals sat up before she could reach them. Her long black hair, clipped at the side by a pink hair slide, immediately marked her as a civilian, but no one they knew, and besides, what would she be doing on a rescue mission? It wouldn't make any sense. "I hate those things…" She shook her head and opened her eyes, only to see SG-1 staring right back at her, clad in green BDUs. Jack watched in growing wariness and curiosity as her face went incredibly white, her eyes fixed to his left where Carter was sitting, "Sam?"

Carter frowned, "Do I know you? What team are you from?"

Vala opened her mouth with the obvious intent to reply, but then, "_Your hair!_"

"Excuse me?" Jack felt that he should intervene. This woman was…odd.

She shook her head, "Not yours, Daniel's, it's…" she seemed lost for words.

Daniel blinked, "I'm sorry?"

Vala, if it was possible, went even paler, and scrambled backwards away from them, only to collide with the still unmoving body of her injured companion. "Oh, this is bad."

Jack lost his temper, "Who the hell are you?"

But Vala wasn't listening; she was examining her hand, newly coated in slick red blood that had begun to spread along the floor. She twisted, ignoring Jack, and nimbly leapt over the unconscious man so that she could see his face. Completely blanking SG-1, she began shaking his shoulders, "Daniel? Daniel, please wake up. I really can't deal with this. You neglected to mention creepiness. Ori, Priors, crazed humans - that I can deal with…" Her voice began to shake, "Don't make me hurt you…"

Sam watched the woman in complete confusion, "Sir, I don't think she's-"

"Sane?"

"Well, I was going to say not from the SGC, but-" A groaning drew their attention, accompanied by a muttered 'ow' as the woman hit her partner on the arm, apparently annoyed he had been unconscious for so long.

Jack felt a new presence by his shoulder. It was Daniel, "Jack? There's something weird about this."

Jack was going to reply, but all words escaped him as the dark haired woman helped her friend to sit up. The man blinked dazedly, looking from the woman to them, and then lost all remaining colour in his face. Jack watched as a man who looked a hell of a lot like the spacemonkey to his right sat up. Only this version had messed up short hair and dead eyes he had never hoped to see in his friend.

Daniel looked at Vala, who shrugged helplessly. He sighed, "Well, this is a new one."

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: A bit short I know, but I'd love to hear what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Author Notes: Thank you so much for all the feedback you sent! They kept me going:) Anyway, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 2

Jack was itching for his gun. Or a knife. A weapon. Anything! This situation was just too weird, something clearly indicated by the fact that the six people had been sitting in shocked silence for at least five minutes. Just staring at each other. Jack couldn't quite assimilate what was going on, and he didn't think his team were faring much better. The dark haired woman hadn't stopped staring at his Daniel since 'the other one' had woken up. And then…she burst out laughing. Yep, definitely a few fries short of a happy meal. The other Daniel simply rolled his eyes, and hit her lightly on the arm, "Vala…"

"I'm sorry," she gasped out between giggles, "But just…you had hair!"

Jack watched in bizarre detachment as the other Daniel sighed in a very long suffering manner, "Yes, as I do now."

"I know, but we're talking some serious follicle growth there."

Daniel rolled his eyes again, and muttered, "For cryin' out loud."

Jack's eyebrows shot up. He had never heard his Daniel say that, or ever expected him to, "Okay, I will ask this once: What the hell?"

The woman called Vala shrugged, "Don't ask me, do I look like a blonde wormhole expert to you?" Jack frowned slightly; the other Daniel had flinched at that. Vala must have noticed too, because she quickly glossed over it with, "Anyone know how to dress a wound?"

Carter seemed to rise out of her shock at that, "Sir? None of us are armed." He looked at her, reading the unspoken message: if they were impostors, numbers were on SG-1's side, but if it really, somehow, impossibly was Daniel, they couldn't just let him bleed out. Besides, they would be alone for quite a while; might as well get cosy.

Carter walked over to alternate-Daniel. Jack shook his head slightly; this was going to get confusing – of all his team mates for there to be two of, it had to be the archaeologist. Before she could examine him closely, however, he pulled away, refusing to look at her, "It's fine."

Vala hit him again, almost making Jack grin; it was exactly what he would have done to his Daniel, "At least get it strapped up. You don't want to go messing up the floor." Jack did smile then – he was beginning to like this woman.

"Fine." A sullen consent, but a consent nonetheless. Sam began to examine the wound, pouring some of their water on it, making Daniel hiss. He still wouldn't look at her.

Sam frowned, "Teal'c, does this look like a staff wound to you?"

"It does not, Captain Carter." Jack envied Teal'c; that guy could walk down the street, and not even bat an eyelid if a piano dropped down right in front of him.

Vala shrugged, "It's from an Ori staff, it-" Daniel jerked at that, clapping his hand over her mouth. She struggled before finally biting him, "Hey! She's trying to treat you. Excuse me for thinking she needed to know."

Daniel shook his head, "Vala, just shut up."

"Why?" An almost childlike defiance was surfacing rapidly.

Daniel, meanwhile, looked like he was losing his cool, "Look at my – his – hair, their ranks, hell, you can sense the symbiote! We can't say anything! Don't you read mission reports? Egypt ring a bell?"

"But…oh…" Realisation seemed to dawn on her. Jack was glad it did for someone, because he was beyond lost.

Sam frowned as she tied the final knot in the makeshift bandage, "What are Ori?"

"Nothing." Daniel murmured. He still hadn't looked at her. He'd looked at himself – now that was a weird thought - more than Carter.

Vala sighed, "For a linguist, you use very few words. He means thank you. And for your information, you haven't met them yet." She grinned as if revelling in the moment, "We're from the future! I've always wanted to say that."

"Vala! Shut up!"

"What? Now they'll ask fewer questions."

"This is too surreal." The younger Daniel next to Jack had finally found his voice.

"But fun. Don't you find this fun?" Vala grinned, apparently taking it all in her stride now that she had got over the initial shock.

"How exactly?" Damn. His Daniel seemed to be freaking out slightly.

"Carter?" Hopefully someone knew what was going on.

"Well, think about it sir, we went back to 1969." She referred to SG-1's last 'mission' before this disaster.

"Then shouldn't we not be talking to them?"

"Our last experience showed that time-travel is possibly predetermined."

"Fish." Everyone looked over at the older Daniel, who smiled weakly, "Trust me, time is way too complicated for that to be the case. That, and I have no memory of ever meeting a future me. And I think I might remember something like this, don't you?"

Vala sat down against the bars, tapping her hands against her legs, "So, what now? When are we, and how did we get here? Oh, and knowing how to get home would be good."

Carter began to launch into a myriad of theories, but Jack was still focused on this new, strange Daniel. There was something about his expression, the way he avoided conversation and eye contact. There was doubt in his whole posture, and Jack could read him like a book. This Daniel was no different from his – he thought he could hide his emotions when in truth they were as plain as day, to Jack at least. There was some part of this Daniel that wasn't sure if he wanted to go home, as if he had nothing to go back to. Jack mentally shook himself. This was stupid; he should be focusing on his team's wellbeing, not these two. Besides, there was no proof that this Daniel was indeed a future version of his. Jack cleared his throat to drown out the little voice that said exactly the contrary, that this was his Daniel, as much as the one sitting next to him, only this one had grown up fast, "How do we know you're who you say you are?"

Vala froze mid-sentence, and it even made Sam catch herself. They had just automatically presumed. The other Daniel quirked a sardonic smile, finally raising his eyes to regard Jack with a startling coolness and clarity, "Because why the hell would a snake ever think of something like this? Why would they think that you would believe us?" He laughed humourlessly, "And even if they did, they sure as hell would not send us."

Jack blinked, for once lacking any snide remarks. Whether this was actually his Daniel or not didn't matter; he damn well looked like him, sounded like him. The thought that Daniel's conscience would ever reach a point where he could coldly point out logical facts of a situation like this made Jack feel slightly ill. Daniel was always meant to stay Daniel, he was meant to keep Jack grounded, not stare back at him with the same haunted, empty eyes that Jack saw in the mirror everyday.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: So what do you think?


	3. Chapter 3

Author Noes: Thank you for your kind reviews:)

Chapter 3

"I don't know, okay? Just, just drop it." Daniel muttered. The two groups had separated off to opposite ends of the cell to discuss the situation.

Vala sighed, "So we can't get home. You're giving up already."

"Vala…"

"How about the cell? We can get out of that alone, right? I have a hair clip."

"I don't think that will work somehow."

"Okay, so I know we're not clever, but she is, and-"

"No." Daniel shook his head, "She's a Captain, there's no way she has as comprehensive a knowledge of gate travel as ours does."

"You mean did."

"What?"

"As ours did – we have to face it Daniel, even if we could get home, there's no way…"

Daniel let out a half laugh, caught slightly by what could have been the echo of a sob, "You have no idea how much I want to hurt that woman right now."

"I'm sorry, Daniel." She sounded it too. It was strange how much Vala had changed since they had first met – he supposed that's what the Ori did to people.

"It's not your fault Adria is a malicious bitch."

Vala didn't reply; she just fiddled with a loose thread on her uniform. Finally, she said, "Correct me if I'm being a lowly alien here, but haven't we already changed more than we should have? Or maybe this was meant to happen – I mean, the Ancients did build the gate system, right?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry Vala, but I don't think so. I just…" Daniel froze. Footsteps were coming, getting louder, the telltale clunking of enemy Jaffa – something they had thought they would never hear again.

* * *

"Crap…" Jack stood up, folding his arms in defiance. The Jaffa squadron opened their cell without speaking, grabbing each one, and shoved them into a steady walking pace. "What? No light chit-chat for us?" 

"Move."

Vala seemed to be getting quite agitated with her Jaffa, muttering darkly to him in a stream of increasingly imaginative death threats. They were taken to a large, elaborate to the point of gaudy, throne room. Daniel hadn't complained about his leg once, but Jack had noticed Vala send him a few worried glances mid-rant.

They were forced to their knees. The First Prime at Carter's shoulder smirked that horrible yellowy smile that those guys always wore, "Presenting your god Apophis, and his Queen, Ammonet."

Jack's stomach lurched, and he glanced to his left, past Vala, to where the two Daniels knelt side by side. His Daniel was following Ammonet's every move as she entered the room; it was only four months since they had found a pregnant Sha're on Abydos, and Daniel was still having trouble coping. The older Daniel's eyes, on the other hand, were fixed on Apophis with a cold stare. Vala paled, "Oh my god, Daniel, did you know she would be here?"

"Silence!" Apophis yelled. He glared between them all, "This I find interesting. Not only do I finally have SG-1 at my mercy, but also the last host of Qetesh-" Vala scowled, "-and _another_ Dr Jackson. Which one of you is real?"

The older Daniel scoffed, "You're a god, work it out."

The Jaffa behind him dealt a blow to his head, making it snap forwards. "You will not speak in such a tone to your god!"

But Daniel hadn't finished yet. The image of Ammonet and Apophis seemed to have been the final thing that snapped his control. He had been to hell and back, and was not going to give up that easily, not to a snake, "Oh please, could you get any more cliché? I am way past being intimidated by something as pathetic as you, so go on, kill me – if you think you can."

Apophis' eyes narrowed. Vala sent him a winning smile, "He's not kidding, you know, he'll only come back again."

"Bring that one forward." On instinct, Jack tried to struggle, but the crushing hand on his collar bone made that incredibly difficult. He watched as the new, colder Daniel was dragged up and taken towards to snakehead. Jack felt his jaw clench unintentionally. Apophis regarded the human in front of him for a moment, before backhanding him across his cheek, "I will make you suffer until you beg for death."

Daniel smiled softly, "Hope died for me a long time ago – death is but another path to walk."

Vala's eyes darted around the room, "Now is really not the time to go suicidal on me Daniel…"

Both men ignored her. Apophis raised his hand to hover over Daniel's forehead. Jack struggled, trying to distract some attention, but then, "Enough!" Ammonet had made herself known. All eyes followed her as the snake inhabiting the Abydonian woman's body made her glide gracefully down the stone steps. She rested a hand to rest on the golden armour of the Goa'uld, "They are no use to us dead, my lord. Perhaps it would be prudent to have the Jaffa _question_ the prisoners."

For a moment, Apophis looked as if he was going to relent, but then, "You may have the women to do with what you will, my queen, but these are mine." Ammonet was forced back as Apophis once more raised his arm, and activated the ribbon device. Immediately the room was full of yells of pleas and protest.

Daniel blinked vigorously, trying to keep upright and coherent, willing himself to remain as straight as possible. Everything was a blur, his vision filled with orange light and his mind screaming as it was being torn in two. A strangely familiar rattling blended jerkily with the distressed yelling, and then Daniel was falling as he was released. He crumpled to the floor, dimly registering a sudden quiet before the world turned black as everything caught up with him.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Too short, I know, I'm sorry... Please let me know your thoughts, and I'll try and get the next chapter up asap.


	4. Chapter 4

Author Notes: Hey everyone! Thank you for the lovely feedback. In this chapter you finally get to see why Daniel is slightly more pessimistic and angsty than usual, but I please ask you to remember the note in chapter 1 before complaining to me:). Also, just in case you missed it, the rattling sound from the last chapter was the rescue team. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

"Look, General, I'm sorry, but it's him. If you wanted a different answer, then I can't help you sir, or explain how this is possible."

"Aww, c'mon doc. You didn't see him, he doesn't even act like him. However crappy our lives might get – there is no way that's Daniel."

Inwardly, Daniel frowned, confused as to why everything seemed as if it were floating in a mist; he couldn't remember being injured. And another thing, why was Janet talking to Jack? Since when did Jack ever come to the SGC anymore? Daniel's brain ground to a halt. Janet. Oh God.

Daniel's eyes snapped open as his memories of the past week hit him, and he immediately began struggling to sit up, trying to remove the IV in his arm at the same time. In one part of his brain, he knew that if being with a past SG-1 offworld could change the timeline, the being at the SGC could only make everything inherently worse. In the other, overriding part of his brain, all he could think of was they had to get out. They had to get away. Sam couldn't take much more.

Doctor Fraiser's attention snapped away from General Hammond and Jack, and she ran over to her distressed patient, "Doctor Jackson, I need you to calm down, or I'm going to have to give you a sedative. Nurse!"

Daniel's instincts, born of years of missions and time with Jack, were on autopilot. He had to get out of this damn bed. He had to get away, "Get off of me!" He lashed out with his arm, confused panic driving his actions. Janet, unused to Daniel putting up this much of a fight with this much strength was thrown off balance, enough for Daniel to succeed in falling out of the bed, his leg buckling under the sudden strain. "Dammit Daniel!" Jack ran forwards, going down onto his knees so that he was level with the new Daniel, and grabbing him by the arms, surprised at the resistance, "Daniel, calm down! No one's going to hurt you!"

At that moment, SG-1, escorting Vala, entered the infirmary. Apparently, they had given into her increasingly annoying requests to see her Daniel. Upon seeing said Daniel on the infirmary floor, trying to get away from Jack, Vala ran forwards, dodging an attempt from Teal'c to grab her. She skidded down in between the beds, and wrenched Jack's hands off her friend. Jack moved back slightly as Vala took his place, taking Daniel's face roughly in her hands, and forcing him to look at her, "Daniel, it's me, Vala. It's okay, we're at the SGC. Adria's gone, she's not here. Remember? We got out, met Apophis?"

Daniel's eyes seemed to clear as his logic overrode his instinct to run. His breathing evened out, his body shaking as it began to come down from its adrenaline fuelled exertion. Jack stood up to allow Janet to move forwards with a sedative. Vala's jaw tensed, "He doesn't need that."

Janet frowned, but didn't reply when Daniel raised his gaze to hers. Colonel O'Neill hadn't been kidding. Those eyes alone marked this Daniel out as not being theirs. "I'm sorry, Doctor Fraiser. I didn't mean to scare you. We've had a tough week, and I thought I was somewhere else."

She recovered, "Nevertheless-"

Daniel shook his head, using the bed to lever himself to a standing position, Vala helping, "The longer I'm sedated, the longer we're here. And I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we should really be going."

Jack had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but that bad feeling began to worsen into a very, very bad feeling when he realised they were going to have to go through a debriefing with these two.

* * *

If it had been anyone else, Sam knew that they wouldn't be sitting here, that they would still be in the infirmary. But this was Daniel, and apparently even in the future he had the gift of discharging himself before anyone else could even dream of. Captain Carter suppressed a sigh. Her scientist's mind was screaming that this was bad, that they should lock them up and not speak to them until they worked out the solution. But each time she thought that, the protests were drowned by her heart's plea to find out what had turned one of her best friends into the man before her; and why this new Daniel kept refusing to look at her.

"Okay, SG-1, why don't we start with you?" General Hammond looked pointedly at Jack.

"Well, y'know how it is, General. Go through the gate, routine mission, and then, bam. A giant palace, scores of Jaffa and Apophis showing up. Turns out the snakehead isn't dead. Again."

"We were apprehended about two hours into the mission, sir. They knocked us out with zat guns." Sam spoke up.

"There's not really anything especially significant to add." Jack shrugged. "It was when we were in custody that things got interesting. No injuries to speak of."

General Hammond nodded, "Very well, you can add your details in the report. Dr Jackson, Miss Maldoran, perhaps you can explain how you came to be in the same cell as my team. The specifics, if you please."

Daniel didn't answer, he only stared at the table. He hadn't exactly been happy about the idea of a debriefing, so Vala decided to tell as much as she could whilst still being vague about future specifics, "Well, we were running for the Stargate on planet…well I don't know, I don't listen, but offworld anyway. So we were running. It was a rescue mission, me and two other members of SG-1 had been sent to retrieve Daniel and another member of our team."

"Wait." Jack interrupted, "That makes a five man team."

Vala shrugged, "Took me long enough to wear them down, but I finally manage to persuade everyone they loved me." Her Daniel snorted, apparently finding the comment funny. General Hammond waved at her to continue. "Okay, so we'd got in, got out, and were running for the gate, under heavy fire. I was at the back, and I'd run out of ammo. One of the guys dialled the gate, and those two must have gone ahead, because a second later, Daniel had grabbed my arm and we were the last ones. We dived through the gate, and instead of landing at the SGC, we landed face first in more lovely grass, and got shot by two Jaffa. We woke up in their cell."

Sam raised her eyes to catch Vala's, "That only makes four."

Vala shifted uncomfortably. Jack frowned, "Carter?"

"She said that there were five of her team on that planet. She only listed four leaving."

The dark haired woman smiled weakly, "I guess you're quick whenever you're from, Sam. You're right. We only succeeded in getting Daniel out. The…other one was already dead."

The future Daniel flinched at the blunt delivery, closing his eyes. Sam bit her lip, "It was me, wasn't it? Daniel? That's why you won't look at me."

The rest of SG-1 had apparently let this pass them by. To her left, Sam saw her Daniel's fists clench on the table, but everyone's full attention as fixed on the Daniel from the future. He opened his eyes, his finger tapping a nervous random rhythm on the table. Jack lost his patience, "Daniel? Answer her question." His voice was tense. He needed to know if Carter was right. Because if she was, it would mean that sometime in the future, he would be too late, and he would arrive to only rescue one of them, and however much he complained about his two scientists, he couldn't bear to lose them to the enemy.

Daniel quirked a smile, his eyes flicking up to meet with Jack's, their gazes matching in pain and intensity, "What do you want me to say Jack? The future's already screwed up enough as it is I guess, so yeah, why not? Sam died. She didn't make it. I watched as Adria finally beat her. As she made her scream, made me scream until neither of us had any voices left. I watched as they dragged her dead body away from me." Daniel's voice was cracking, tears gathering in his eyes, but never falling; they never would. "The future is as fucked up as you can possibly comprehend Jack, and them some more. Does that answer her question?" He stood up sharply, his good leg forcing the chair backwards, and he strode purposefully out of the room, following by his guard.

Sam sat in shock, but felt a hand close in on hers. Daniel. Her Daniel. Teal'c was silent, but was practically radiating violence. General Hammond sighed, "Alright, I think we'll leave it there today. Captain Carter?"

It took Sam a moment to snap out of it, "Yes sir?"

"I want all possible scenarios of how they came to be here. And I want them gone. Dismissed."

Vala watched as Sam and Daniel rose and left together, Teal'c trailing protectively after them. General Hammond had already returned to his office, but Jack hadn't moved. He was still staring at the chair that Daniel had shoved away. Vala smiled weakly, "It makes sense that they were always like that, being a team for so long." Jack's eyes flicked uncertainly to Vala, silently asking her to elaborate, "Sam and Daniel. If I met them in a bar, I would have them pegged for siblings, not friends – and I'm an excellent judge of character. And them there's Teal'c of course. None of us need protecting – not like those two used to I guess – but he never lets them out of his sight. Not really."

Jack tried to find his voice. To find something clever to say, but all that came out was, "I'm sorry."

Vala rolled her eyes, "Why do you need to apologise? I mean, I've only met you a few times, but you seem like a decent guy, especially from the way they all talk about you."

"What?" Jack's attention snapped back fully onto the woman.

"What?"

"We've only met a few times?"

Vala frowned, and then realisation hit her. "You aren't part of SG-1 anymore, Colonel. Sam and Daniel aren't your responsibility anymore. You couldn't have done anything. I mean, you're not even at the SGC."

"I'm _what?_" Jack was in shock. He had never even let it cross his mind that in the future, he wouldn't be a part of the SG-1, let alone the SGC. And the future Daniel hadn't seemed that much older. Suddenly it all made sense. He'd always had a knack of understanding his archaeologist, but apparently in the future, that disappeared. "I'm an ass in the future, aren't I?"

Vala shrugged, "You seem okay, they all still love you, but then, you tell me."

Jack sat there for one more second, before standing up and leaving quickly. Vala smiled softly, for the first time in a long while, a real smile. Maybe Jack would be the one to break Daniel out. God knows she had tried, so had Sam, but there was only so much the pair of them could shoulder. Teal'c tried too, but he had also failed, and Cameron was too military. Someone needed to snap Daniel out of it, and if the Jack of the future was unavailable, maybe this one might succeed.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Okay, so I have issues with Jack not being in later SG-1 okay? I'm sorry... Anyway, please let me know your thoughts!


	5. Chapter 5

Author Notes: Oops, this story is getting steadily darker, and I swear it was not my originally intention, but hey! Let the plot bunny do what he wants:) Thank you for your reviews, I hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 5

Daniel sat on his bed, staring ahead of him at the wall that was as grey as his gaze. He knew it wasn't healthy, but he couldn't help letting his mind run over what memories he had of the last time he saw Sam. The last time he saw her smile. The last time she looked at him, already knowing she was as good as dead, just to say goodbye. Just as…

He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the tips of his fingers into his closed lids until stars danced across his vision. No. Stop it. Thinking like that would never bring her back. He remembered looking at his younger self and feeling jealousy, as he still had his Samantha Carter. They still had years ahead of them. They didn't have Adria, the Ori or, hell, even the Wraith. They had yet to see replicators of any form, they still had Jack. They still had each other. They were _safe_. Safe within a structure so simplistic it was laughable. Daniel shook his head. How did they, how did he, get so far down that road, until they were all hanging by a single thread, without even blinking an eye? He knew the answer of course. They hadn't had a choice.

A knock at the door brought Daniel reluctantly out of his morbid musings. It was opened and shut without his reply, but he didn't need to reply, or turn around, he already knew who it was. "Hello Colonel."

"Daniel." There was nothing in the voice that gave his intentions away.

"What do you want Jack?"

"To talk."

Daniel did laugh then, a slight hysteric, but harsh, pitch to his voice, as he stood and turned around to face the younger version of the man he knew. "'To _talk_?'" Daniel echoed Jack's words, "Since when do you talk? And besides, do you really think that's such a good idea, with the whole paradox issue hanging over our heads?"

"That's hardly an excuse anymore Daniel, you've just told Carter when she dies."

Daniel shrugged, indifference colouring his tone, "Well, we already know we lose, so what's the point of fighting? You never know, Jack, I might have saved you from my future. My words might have changed the future just enough for our path to change."

"Or you might have made it worse."

"Whatever." Daniel leaning against the far wall, closing himself off by folding his arms.

Jack stared at the man before him in shock. If he didn't know his own Daniel so well, he would never have thought them to be the same men. In a way, one could look at this Daniel and remember the time he was addicted to the sarcophagus and lost himself, but that wouldn't be quite true. While Shyla's Daniel had been cold, hard and uncaring, this one was not. True, he was cold and hard, but not uncaring. No, Jack understood this man because he was just like him. This Daniel understood the price. He had seen the betrayal and death, the loss and lies. And, Jack realised with a jolt of understanding, it had all come from him. Screw it, however twisted the concept was, he was going to make up for his future self's mistakes. And maybe finally get some answers – however bad he was at this kind of thing. "It wasn't your fault." Daniel's head snapped up, eyes narrowing as he regarded the man before him. Jack elaborated, "Your Carter's death. It wasn't your fault."

Daniel looked at him in disbelief, "Really? And how the hell did you figure that one out?"

"It was mine." Jack stated simply.

Daniel blinked. It was clear that whatever he had expected Jack to say, it had not been that. Jack saw a flicker of something behind Daniels' eyes, before it was quickly extinguished, "Well, then, I'm happy to absolve you of your guilt. You haven't been on SG-1 for over three years, and haven't been at the SGC for two. You weren't on the rescue team. Feel better? Good. Now go."

Jack struggled to recover his train of thought. He had known he wasn't at the SGC in their future, but damn. He had not expected it to have been that long. "That's my point, though, Daniel. I'm sorry."

Daniel was losing his patience rapidly, "What _are_ you talking about?"

Jack shrugged, and sat on the bed, leaning backwards apparently at ease with his situation, "I'm gonna be blunt here, Daniel. You are not my friend, but you are what my friend will become, so I guess that still makes you my responsibility while you and Vala are here. Now, as I don't know what I'm like in the future, I'm going to be the impartial observer from what I see in you."

Daniel seemed to be in slight shock from the amount of words that were spilling out of Jack's mouth, but recovered enough to protest, "What are you-"

"No. I talk first." There was no room for argument in the Colonel's tone. "Now, like I said, I can't begin to understand what we're like in the future, or what the future's like, but I don't need to. I know you well enough to know that I really need to apologise. Not just to you, but to Carter and Teal'c as well, but as they're not here, I guess you'll have to do."

"You're not him! You don't even know what you should be apologising for!" Daniel yelled in frustration at the stubborn man in front of him, "Hell, _I_ don't even know why you should be apologising for, so by all means-"

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind."

Daniel stopped short. He blinked in shock, "What?" He faltered, trying to regain a foothold, "You didn't…"

"Yes I did, Daniel. I left the three of you to deal whatever the hell was there. Whatever 'Adria' and the 'Ori' are, I left you. So what if I was on the same planet as you? From what Vala says, I barely even saw you guys. So yeah, I left you behind."

"No." Daniel shook his head, "You came back to help. Sometimes you'd come back."

"Really? And aside from those times I did come back, how many other hundreds of times did you honestly believe there was no more hope, that you were as good as dead? I heard you back there with Apophis, Daniel. I made a promise to myself when I became leader of SG-1. The three of you are my responsibility. End of argument."

"You don't know me." Daniel hissed.

"That's the problem Daniel. I'm the only one who really does. And until you stop blaming yourself for something that was never your fault or responsibility, you won't see that." Jack shrugged, and stood up, turning to the door, "So yeah, Daniel. I'm sorry."

Daniel stood, staring in shock as the door closed behind the man who had just said all the things that he himself had refused to even entertain. Involuntarily, Daniel's legged folded as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor. He wrapped his arms tightly around his knees and rested his forehead on them, trying to shut out the world, trying to stop the horrible feeling that rose in his stomach that Jack was right. Because if he was right and Jack was wrong, then Daniel didn't have the right to be upset over Sam's death, because it was his fault.

But Jack was almost always right. Because Jack was smart enough to not over think everything.

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut as silent tears ran down his cheeks.

Sam was dead.

And God how he missed her.

* * *

"Colonel?" 

Who was talking?

"Colonel, can you hear me?"

"Colonel Carter?"

"Sam, come on, we know you're awake."

Frowning, Sam opened her eyes. Four faces smiled in relief. Landry smiled happily down at her, Cam grinned, yelping out loud as he clapped Teal'c on the shoulder, who stood silently, proudly, relaying his happiness without words. Dr Lam moved forwards to check on her, but she sat up, confused, looking at the empty beds either side of her, "Where's Daniel?" She frowned, her protective instincts for her team and friends rearing despite her physical state, "And Vala?"

No one had an answer for her.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Yes, many, many issues with later season Jack... But hey, I didn't kill Sam, that's got to count for something, right? I'm dying to know your thoughts, so please feel free to push that button!


	6. Chapter 6

Author Notes: Thanks for the feedback! Hope you enjoy this installment!

Chapter 6

"Hi!"

Daniel's head snapped up from the report he was reading to regard the strange woman who had dropped into their lives only a few days ago. "Err…hi?"

Vala strode into the room, plonking herself down backwards into the spinning chair next to Daniel and began twisting in it, grinning at the curious version of her Daniel before her. "So…" Vala dragged out the word, "Can I braid your hair?"

"What?" Daniel choked, jerking away from her in reflex, "I…what? No!"

"Oh come on! It'd suit you. Trust me; I'm a genius in these things."

Daniel raised his hands as if to hold her off, "Just, no."

Vala smiled at him. This Daniel was cute - nothing like hers. Even when they had first met, all that time ago on the Prometheus, he had been sarcastic and fun to mess with. He always understood her, to a point at least. This one was looking at her as if she was, well, an alien. And damn, he was adorable. "Fine." She pouted, and then swung herself in a complete 360 spin in the chair until she was facing him again, "I'm bored."

Daniel looked at Vala's escort at the door, as if pleading for help, "I-"

Vala waved her hand, "Don't look at him. They're all the same, no sense of humour."

"But-"

"So, will you give me the grand tour, I mean, I know I live here in the future, but you never know."

"I-"

"Okay, so scrap the tour, how about lunch? Granted, the food here's not the greatest, but I'm sure-"

"Dear god shut up!" Daniel shouted over her ramblings. Then there was silence. Both looked at each other in complete shock, neither having expected the outburst. And then Vala started giggling. Daniel looked at her as if she was insane, "What?"

"Oh, Daniel. Even in the past I can wind you up."

"You were being annoying on purpose?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"Well not completely, I am bored, but the end result was just as fun."

"How do I put up with you on SG-1?"

It was an innocent question, asked in jest now that Daniel seemed to understand where Vala was coming from, but she wouldn't answer him with the truth, that he was the only one who truly _got_ her. Instead, she replied, "Because if I wasn't on SG-1, I would have destroyed or sold half your collections of artefacts by now."

Daniel grinned, "You know, you shouldn't be talking to me. You could change my future."

"Bad excuse Jackson, poorly delivered." Vala stood, grabbing him by the arm and steering him towards the door, "Let's go."

* * *

Daniel walked into Captain Carter's labs, accompanied by the ever present escort. It had taken him a long time to recover from Jack's little speech, and to be honest, he still hadn't let it completely absorb into his system, but he felt that he had to see Sam, or at least, the person his friend used to be. "Hello?"

A blonde head poked up from a computer, shortly followed by a confused but welcoming smile, "Dan- oh, err, Doctor Jackson, how can I help?"

Daniel smiled, "Well, you can call me Daniel for a start. I think our hair at least separates us."

Sam gave him a lopsided grin, "Sorry. I guess I didn't really know how…"

"Yeah, I…" Daniel let out a breathy laugh, "You know, this really shouldn't be this awkward…"

Sam nodded shyly. This was her friend, but he wasn't at the same time, and however large her IQ was, it did not prepare her for situations like this. "I know. So, did you need something?"

"Yeah." Daniel came around the desk, wrapping his arms around himself out of habit, "I wanted to apologise. For earlier I mean – I haven't exactly been friendly."

"Oh, don't worry; I probably wouldn't have been that pleasant if it had been me. Or you…dead…I mean." She winced, apparently hating the way her words had come out.

There was another awkward silence, until Daniel broke it with, "So, however much I love being here, found anything that might send me and Vala home?"

Daniel had to suppress a grin at the almost childlike glow that covered Sam's face almost immediately, "Well, I've been running simulations, and I think it's safe to say that solar activity on P4X-184 in your time likely influenced the wormhole at your end, sending it back to our time. Just like it did to us in 1969?"

Daniel tilted his head, "Yeah…maybe." He frowned, "But we went through the same wormhole as Mitchell and Teal'c, so where are they?"

Sam suppressed a grin at the confirmation that Teal'c was still on their team in the future. She had already heard from the Colonel that he wasn't, and it also made her wonder who 'Mitchell' was. And then her mind switched back onto the problem, "Okay, well, it's possible that they could be somewhere else in the timeline of that planet. Like when we got sent to Cassandra?"

Daniel groaned, "That's even worse! I mean, that planet doesn't exactly have the greatest timeline – Apophis, Anubis, Ba'al, the Ori…" He trailed off, suddenly remembering who he was talking to, "Okay, forget I just said that."

Sam nodded quickly, "Already forgotten." She frowned, thinking, "Okay, did anything interrupt your transport? Anything irregular about the way the two of you entered the wormhole?"

Daniel shrugged, "I don't really remember. I mean, my main memory from that point was the incredible pain in my leg. Maybe Vala remembers something?"

Sam sighed, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes, "We're getting nowhere. We simply don't have the technology to deal with this!"

"Have you asked for help?" Daniel suggested, struggling to remember Earth's galactic position when it came to allies at this point in its timeline.

"Yeah, but neither the Asgard, nor the Tok'ra have responded."

"This is ridiculous!" Daniel burst out, "We can't stay here forever! I mean, it wouldn't be plausible – there are two of me for starters, the NID will start to nose around, and I _really_ don't want to live through my life again."

Sam sighed, feeling for her friend, or, the future version of him. They were getting nowhere, "Want to go grab something to eat? I think Teal'c and the Colonel usually eat at this time."

Daniel frowned, "It's three in the morning." Sam raised an eyebrow, "Right, yeah, Teal'c and Jack."

* * *

"Bill, I swear, if you don't give me something to work with soon…" Colonel Carter's tired voice broke through the tension of the lab.

Dr Lee threw his hands up, "Look, Colonel, I don't know what you want me to tell you. We have nothing. We simply lost the wormhole, right after Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c came through! There're no readings to analyse!"

Sam sighed, teasing out the tense muscles in her neck, "I know, I'm sorry, it's just…I can't lose them…"

Bill smiled slightly. The woman had been a captive of the Ori for over a week, was only discharged from the Infirmary today, and still she wasn't slowing down, "I know, we all want them back."

"What about MALP and UAV readouts?"

"Nothing. We found you quite easily when we sent the UAV out after Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c came back. There was no sign of the chips we placed in Vala or Dr Jackson. Just yours."

"And no chatter offworld either." Colonel Cameron Mitchell announced as he and Teal'c entered the lab. "It's like they just…disappeared."

Dr Lee groaned, "I hate it when you guys do that. It always gives me a headache."

"Hey, it's not like we actually _try_ and get ourselves lost, it just kinda…happens." Mitchell shot back defensively.

'_Unscheduled offworld activation; SG-1 to the Control Room.'_

Cam swore, "What now?"

The trio hurried up to the Control Room, which was currently overlooking an open wormhole. General Landry looked up as they entered, "It's Atlantis."

Sam frowned, "They're not due for a check in yet are they?"

"No. And they want to speak to you Colonel Carter."

"Me?" Sam moved forwards to see the video screen, and then sighed long-sufferingly, "McKay? What have you broken this time that you need my help with? We're kind of busy right now."

Doctor Rodney McKay, CSO of the offworld Ancient base Atlantis and the bane of Sam's existence smiled sardonically, "However much I _love _asking for your help Colonel, we both know that it is usually me who has to help you."

Sam rolled her eyes, "Get to the point McKay."

Rodney's face darkened in barely disguised annoyance, but he obliged, "Me and Zelenka were going over some of the data you sent over from the Odyssey's upgrades." Sam nodded. The Asgard had done so many different things to that one ship that the load had been spread between all the different science teams at Atlantis, the SGC and Area 51, "Well, we got a message popping up on us, about two days ago, encoded. We couldn't access anything else. It was very persistent."

"Rodney, you're rambling. What does this have to do with me?" Sam pointed out, her tired brain tripping over what he was trying to tell her.

McKay sighed, and then smiled, "Lost anyone recently? Namely a wayward archaeologist and a very annoying alien woman?"

Sam blinked, not sure if she had passed out on the desk and was now dreaming. Teal'c's succinct reply cleared things up for her, "Please explain. What do you know of Daniel Jackson and Vala Maldoran's disappearance?"

Rodney shrugged, and for the first time, Sam noticed that he looked just as worn as she felt, "We've been having a few…issues, over here." Something told the Control Room that was a massive understatement, "We haven't really had the manpower to go over it. All I know is that the Asgard wanted to tell us something. Look, I have to go; I'm transmitting the data now. We've cleaned it up as best we could, but it's yours now."

Sam smiled, Okay, we got it. Thank you Rodney."

McKay nodded, "Hope you find them." He said sincerely, "Atlantis out."

General Landry turned his attention to SG-1 as the wormhole shutdown, "Well?"

Sam accessed the computer, "I'll send it down to the labs. We'll get right on it sir." Suddenly wide awake, Sam led the way, followed by Cam and Teal'c. They would need caffeine. Lots and lots of caffeine.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Author Notes: Thanks for all the support:)

Chapter 7

Vala smiled softly as she and the Daniel she had 'kidnapped' entered the canteen. Over on the far table, the one that was traditionally SG-1's, sat Jack and her Daniel, opposite Teal'c and Sam. So Jack had finally managed to bring Daniel out of himself. He wasn't smiling, but the fact he was in the same room as the team spoke volumes. The pair moved to get some coffee, before heading over to the four in the corner. Daniel pulled himself up a chair next to Sam. Vala took the easier approach by swinging herself onto her Daniel's lap. He sighed, "Do you mind?"

Vala hooked an arm around his neck, "Not particularly, no."

Daniel didn't put up any more protest; he knew it would be futile. SG-1 had to suppress a grin, while his past self looked mildly terrified. "Apparently it is impossible for me to eat in peace anymore." Jack sighed.

"You love us really." Vala grinned, "So, any luck on sending us home?"

Sam shook her head, munching on a brunch bar, "No, I'm afraid. We haven't even worked out how you got here, let alone how to send you back."

The Daniel Vala was sitting on poked her in the ribs, "We were wondering if you remembered anything odd before we landed in the middle of the group of happy Jaffa."

"Odd? Daniel, our whole lives are odd. You're going to have to narrow it down a bit. I'm a smuggler, not a scientist."

"Well. I don't know, light, sound?" Sam suggested.

"Basically, anything that would have made the Stargate go loopy." Jack supplied.

"Ah." Vala frowned, thinking back, "Well there was the cruiser, but it landed, so wouldn't have been able to get a shot at the gate. We were under fire from the soldiers…oh." Vala trailed off.

"What?" Sam asked eagerly.

"Adria wouldn't have been fast enough…" Vala muttered, "She wouldn't have risked it."

Daniel frowned, trying to understand what Vala had realised, "What are you talking about?"

"Daniel, I think there was a Prior. I think he did something to the Stargate."

SG-1 looked at each other in confusion. None of them had heard of a 'Prior' before, but the tone in Vala's voice was not promising. Daniel, meanwhile, went slightly pale, "Are you sure?"

"Well, apart from Adria, no one else could have affected the gate in such an extreme way without hurting us. I know Adria wasn't chasing us, she wouldn't have bothered."

"And there was definitely a Prior on that planet." Daniel stated darkly. "If he hit the wormhole with his staff…"

Vala groaned, "Crap. We're never getting home."

"But why would he have wanted to do this to us?" Daniel asked, half to himself.

Vala rolled her eyes, "He probably just waved his magic stick and hoped he'd do some damage!"

Jack looked between the pair, "Okay, back it up there and explain to those who have _no _idea where you're going with this, and answer my question: Huh?"

Vala shrugged, "It's hard to explain. On the upside, though, we don't need to worry about influencing the future anymore – we're going to be part of it!" She said all of this in a very sarcastic happy tone.

Daniel frowned, trying to think of a way to explain, "When you got the Ancient database downloaded into your head," he said slowly, "You had infinite knowledge. Think of someone who can use that knowledge, who has power to kill in an instant, and then you have a Prior."

Jack looked at Daniel intently; he was really beginning to hate himself in the future - how the hell could he have left his team like that? Screw politics, they'd needed him, "So not great guys then?"

"Oh I don't know, Daniel as a Prior was quite cool." Vala smiled.

"_What?_" The past version of Daniel exclaimed.

Vala raised her hand to halt him, "Too complicated, involving Merlin. You don't want to go there quite yet."

Daniel blinked in shock. Sam glanced at her CO, while Teal'c regarded the pair with unreadable eyes. In the end, it was the Jaffa who broke the silence, "Perhaps we should inform General Hammond that SG-1 will be expanding temporarily."

Jack let his head fall to rest on the table, and banged it three times, "Why us?"

* * *

Vala sat with the Daniel of the past, watching him with an incredibly bored expression on her face. She had been here a week, and was getting incredibly fidgety – a bit of fresh air would not go amiss. Jack and Teal'c were offworld, trying to get through to the Asgard again using Cimmeria. They were due back within the hour, but Vala wasn't particularly hopeful. Sam was in her labs again, while Vala's Daniel was in his room. Despite everyone's efforts, he still preferred to keep to himself. Vala didn't really blame him. After all, how was he supposed to cope with what had happened when the past version of their friend was wondering around base, happily alive? 

Sighing, Vala looked up from the shiny artefact Daniel was currently translating, and let out a strangled yelp, almost falling off her chair. "_Cameron?_"

Daniel looked up, and followed Vala's gaze. In the middle of his office was standing a man in green BDUs, or rather, he seemed to be standing. On closer inspection, he was shimmering in and out, as if experiencing a bad connection. "Hello?" He waved, his voice echoing slightly, "You can see me?"

Vala blinked, "Cameron, not that I'm not ecstatic to see you, but what on _earth_ are you doing in Daniel's office. And erm, _how?_"

Mitchell shrugged, "We figured this is one of the most likely places you guys would be in the past." His gaze moved to Daniel, "Oh dammit!"

Vala frowned, "What?"

But the Colonel wasn't listening. Instead he looked over his shoulder, apparently talking to someone they couldn't see, "You've got the time wrong guys – Jackson's hair is already long! We need to go back more."

"What? No wait!" Vala yelled angrily, "Wrong Daniel!"

Mitchell gave her a pained look, "Will you guys stop talking to me at the same time! Seriously, how did General O'Neill deal with this damn contraption?"

"_What_ did you just call me?" Mitchell raised his eyes to see Jack and Teal'c standing in the doorway with very confused looks on their faces, apparently having just returned from their mission, "And who the hell are you?" Jack's voice was the most dangerous Vala had ever heard it, and she was beginning to understand the Goa'uld's perception of the guy.

"Colonel Cameron Mitchell, sir, SG-1."

"Same rank, genius. He's not your superior here." Vala pointed out.

"Man, this is confusing." Mitchell turned behind him again, answering back to someone they couldn't see, "Well why don't you try, Colonel 'I have a huge brain'?"

Vala glanced at the room, knowing this could get complicated, "Cameron, listen." She waited until he turned back to her, "Me and Daniel have been here a week. We're in the year 1999. Why don't you come back in a second when everyone's in the briefing room? That way I can collect my Daniel."

Mitchell nodded, "Alright, we'll try and sort that out. We just need to change the location by a few degrees." He elaborated at her confused expression, "We're transmitting from the Odyssey in the future. Meet us there in five." He shimmered out.

All eyes turned to Vala, "Well don't look at me, I didn't know he could do that. Those little grey men must have upgraded more than we thought." She shook her head, "Asgard, honestly. We should go and get everyone."

She stood, and made to leave the room but Jack blocked her way, "Who was that? And what about the Asgard?" He frowned, "What's the Odyssey?"

"Oh," Vala shrugged, "It's one of Earth's ships."

Jack was too shocked to resist the woman as she pushed past, only able to look between his two team mates to exclaim, "'_One_ of'?"

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: I really hope this chapter wasn't too confusing to read. I tried to clean it up as best as I could, but it gave me a huge headache when writing. Anyway, please let me know what you think. As you can see, we've only got a few more chapters to go:)


	8. Chapter 8

Author Notes: Sorry for the delay, I've been away. I hope you enjoy this chapter, dedicated to everyone who got their A Level results today...

Chapter 8

SG-1 and General Hammond sat in the briefing room, joined with Daniel and Vala. Jack was getting nervous. He knew the General had been on the phone with a myriad of different people, trying to keep this incident within the SGC's jurisdiction. If that Mitchell guy didn't hurry up soon… "Where the hell is he?" Jack burst out.

Vala rolled her eyes, "Well they are using alien technology to contact us from the future. You can't exactly expect them to be punctual."

"Yeah?" Jack jumped onto what Vala was saying, "And how exactly are they managing that?"

"I believe I did mention that they were in the future?"

Any further argument was prevented by someone shimmering into the room a few feet from General Hammond. The whole room gaped. Jack was the first one to voice himself, "_Carter?_"

"Err, yeah." She gave them a little wave, "Hello sir, or, I guess, Jack, since we're the same rank." She grinned brightly. Jack's eyebrows shot up, a feeling of pride rising within him.

Vala and Daniel stared at her, both incredibly white. "Sam?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

Sam smiled softly, "Hey Daniel. How are you?"

Vala snapped out of her trance, "How's he? What about you? You're _dead!_" Vala raised her eyes to the ceiling, "Seriously, does no one ever stay dead around here? It's really hard to keep track. Not that I'm not completely ecstatic to see you breathing, Sam."

Realisation hit Sam's face. For her, it had been two months since her friends had disappeared, and the whole Adria incident had been forcibly shoved to the back of her mind. Gently, she replied, "She tricked you Daniel. And me. I thought you were dead – I saw her kill you. When they sent the UAV back to the planet to look for you two, they found my beacon instead."

Vala frowned, "Why though? It's not exactly Adria's style."

Sam shrugged, "We really pissed her off after the whole Daniel-Prior thing. I guess she wanted good old fashion revenge along with the information of our new developments."

Daniel seemed to be in a numbing state of shock, "Sam-"

She smiled, "I know. Let's get you two home, shall we?"

SG-1 had remained silent through this exchange, wanting to give them space. Now, Captain Carter spoke up, "It's too late; they've changed the timeline irreparably, surely?"

Sam grinned at the younger version of herself, "According to the Asgard, they haven't."

"But that's impossible."

"Actually, no." She turned to her Daniel, "Apparently in our past, in the year 1999, we met, well, _you_."

Daniel shook his head, "I think I would remember meeting Vala."

"Hey!" Both Sam and Daniel ignored Vala's input.

Sam frowned slightly, her eyes flicking to someone on her end, "We're draining the ZPM doing this, so I'll have to be short. The Asgard can send you back, and modify the memories of everyone at the SGC – they've obviously done it before."

"How do you even know that?" Vala asked.

"We found it in the Odyssey's database. Or, rather, Atlantis found it."

General Hammond was desperately trying to block out everything that was coming for this Carter's mouth; it was really making his head hurt, "We've tried the Asgard. They aren't responding."

Jack shrugged, "Thor's busy."

Sam rolled her eyes, pointedly glaring at her Daniel, "There is more than one planet in the Protected Planets Treaty you know! Try Freyr! The little guy's head of the High Council back then, I'm sure he'll respond."

Jack looked at her as if she was talking another language, while the Daniel of the future was thinking, "K'Tau?"

Sam nodded in agreement, and then turned behind her, "Bill, can you pull up the co-ordinates for K'Tau from the database please." She sighed, and then, "_What?_" Sam's face had gone incredibly pale.

Daniel and Vala recognised that expression. It was one they all had when they received very bad news. "What is it?" Daniel asked.

"The Apollo's being deployed to Atlantis. You really need to get back here. The planet is P39-865. It's best if you go in under the radar, then the Asgard won't have to wipe that people's memories too."

Jack watched as Daniel's face darkened, ignoring the other information, "Why are they deploying the Apollo?"

Sam shook her head, "I have to go. Just come home, okay guys?" She disappeared.

Vala and Daniel both looked equally as worried. Jack lost his patience, "Seeing as none of us will remember this, you wanna tell us what's that last bit was about?"

Vala bit her lip, "The Apollo is Earth's most recent ship. Atlantis must be in trouble if they're sending it out of the galaxy."

"Galaxy!" Sam yelped.

The past Daniel nodded in unison with his friend's shock, "And did you say Atlantis? As in the Lost City?"

Vala grinned, "Awww, you're so cute when you get all excited."

Future Daniel elbowed her, quirking a smile, and Vala could already see his own unique brand of humour returning to him now he knew their Sam was alive, "Like Jack said, you're not going to remember this, so what's the point in wasting our time explaining everything?"

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Touché."

Vala clapped her hands together, "So. K'Tau?"

* * *

SG-1, with the added members of Vala and a second Dr Daniel Jackson, stood awaiting the chevrons to connect to the planet of K'Tau. A UAV had already been sent, determining the planet's rotation. As such, the six people were now clad in black, awaiting their deployment to the night on the other end of the wormhole.

Jack frowned. The dialling process halted on the sixth chevron. Turning, his whole day suddenly got considerably worse, as he saw Colonel Harry Maybourne of the NID standing in the Control Room next to General Hammond. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the future Daniel scrunch up his eyes, and gently bang his head against Vala's shoulder, muttering, "I really hate that guy."

Jack sighed, "Hello Harry!" He called up, a false cheer in his voice juxtaposed with his very pissed off temperament, "Social call?"

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: K'Tau is the planet featured in the episode in season 5, Red Sky. Seeing as I had to use a sort of 'quick fix' method to unscrew the timeline, I decided not to make it as easy for them just to up and leave. Plus, everyone loves Harry :) Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Author Notes: Argh! We're almost done!

Chapter 9

"General, this is wrong." Daniel argued, for about the hundredth time. His future self and Vala were currently being contained in separate holding cells, as per the NID's request, before their transport off base and out of the SGC's custody.

"I'm sorry, Dr Jackson, my hands are tied."

"But we have to send them back, sir." Carter put in, "Besides our timeline being at risk, it sounded as if they're needed in the future."

General Hammond shook his head, "The NID seems to think them a security risk – Goa'uld spies."

Jack scoffed, "Oh come on! Okay, maybe – and I mean that in the slimmest possibility of maybes – Daniel, but why, why for the love of all that is sane in this life, would they send someone like Vala?"

Teal'c nodded, "O'Neill is correct. Vala Maldoran is not a typical Goa'uld spy."

"Try telling that to the NID." Hammond sighed.

"What will happen to them?" Daniel asked.

"Colonel Maybourne is going to do some preliminary questioning here, before they are transported to 'a more secure facility', as they put it."

Jack shook his head, fists clenching, "We really need to contact the little guys."

The General nodded in agreement, "I have been given no orders to prevent that from happening. Do you have enough information to complete the mission without them?"

Sam nodded, "I think so sir. We know where to find it without interfering with the locals, and I should be able to access it."

Daniel nodded, "If we name drop a bit of what they've told us, like the Ancients and Atlantis, the Asgard might be more inclined to believe us."

"Alright SG-1, you-"

"Wait, General." Jack cut him off, "With your permission, I'd like to remain and oversee Maybourne's questioning. SG-2 could accompany my team?"

The General took a moment to analyse his 2IC's intentions, before nodding, "Inform Major Ferretti that his team is to gear up. Dismissed. And Jack?" Colonel O'Neill turned back, "You might want to get down there now."

A sharp nod, and Jack was gone.

* * *

When Jack got down to the interrogation rooms, he found Daniel sitting alone in one, with a guard at the door, while Maybourne and Vala were sitting in the next one along; he could see them through the one-way glass. Vala's voice rang clear through the comm. as Dr Janet Fraiser kept a close eye on the proceedings from the outside. Jack had to quirk a smile, "-I mean, seriously, could you imagine a more insulting remark? I know we were in a compromising position, but for Vorosh to suggest that about me and Daniel? Completely uncalled for." She sighed, playing with her hair, "So what about you Colonel, had any-"

"I think that's all for now, Miss Maldoran." Maybourne quickly caught the woman before she could continue.

"Oh, okay." She smiled brightly, "Can't wait for the next time!"

Jack looked at Janet, who was struggling to keep a straight face, "I'm not saying anything sir. You'll have to get a transcript of the interview." She jerked her head in the direction of the glass, "That woman is a master of deviation."

Maybourne emerged, looking severely ruffled. Jack couldn't resist, "So Maybourne, _have_ you had any?"

He was rewarded by a death glare as the NID Colonel moved to the next door. "What do you want Jack?"

"I'm Daniel's CO. I have the right to be present in the room."

Maybourne looked annoyed, "Not this one you're not."

Janet shrugged, coming to Jack's aid, "Tell that to DNA, Colonel Maybourne."

Jack shot Harry a winning smile as the other Colonel reluctantly let SG-1's commander follow him into the room. Jack immediately went to sit next to Daniel. To be honest, he didn't know why he had felt the need to stay behind, but Harry had always given him the creeps, and however grown up this version of his friend might be, there was no way in a thousand hells that he was letting a Daniel of any time be alone in a room with this man. Maybourne sat opposite them, "So, Daniel."

Daniel glared, "It's Dr Jackson, if you don't mind, Colonel."

Harry glanced up from the file he held, "Well, that remains to be seen, doesn't it Daniel?" He stressed the archaeologist's first name. Jack felt his insides twist in anger, but Daniel's face remained impassive.

"Get on with it Maybourne." Jack growled.

"You claim to be a member of SG-1." He smiled slightly, "From the 'future'."

"I don't claim to be. I am."

"Do you have proof?"

Daniel laughed then, "I'm sorry, proof? How do I prove I have experienced something that hasn't even happened to you yet?"

Maybourne nodded, "Exactly. You could easily have taken on the guise of Dr Jackson, and made up a lot of crap of the 'future', and who would argue? Well, whoever you are, you haven't got the NID fooled. So, who are you?"

Jack was about to snap at Maybourne, until he caught Daniel's expression. His face was blank, but his eyes spoke volumes. Something had snapped. He smiled pensively, "You have no idea how much of a complicated question that is, Maybourne."

"Enlighten me." He hissed.

Daniel raised his eyes to regard the man before him with a cool expression, before dropping them to the table, "I am one of five members of SG-1, the flagship team of the SGC. I am the man who opened the Stargate, and go through it every day. I have died god knows how many times, and ascended twice. I have seen so many good people die, and even more undeserving ones survive. I have seen planets enslaved, freed, and then enslaved again in another way. I've seen my friends grow as each time we win, we lose something else." He paused, his voice never rising, simply soft and calm, "And I've seen you, Colonel. I've seen you betray your country and your planet, join the rogue faction of the NID, and end up on Death Row." His eyes flicked up once more, watching as the Colonel's face registered not shock, necessarily, but fear. Fear of discovery.

Jack choked at Daniel's last words, "What?"

Maybourne quickly recovered, "Bull shit." He spat.

Daniel shrugged, "What ever you will, Colonel." He leaned back in his chair and sighed, "I really don't care anymore."

Maybourne smiled, "Because you know your plan has failed. You might as well tell us who sent you. Apophis, I presume?" He leaned in, "We have far more satisfactory ways of making you talk. You might as well tell the truth now."

Jack shot to his feet, which to his own satisfaction, made Maybourne flinch, "You're not touching them."

Daniel merely smiled, "And then what, Colonel? You dissect me in the hopes of proving me alien?" He laughed, "There is nothing you can do that I haven't already had done to me, or seen being done." His eyes involuntarily flicked to Jack for a second, as if remembering a conversation he and his friend had had once, about events long past for Daniel, before flicking back to the NID operative.

Jack folded his arms, remaining standing, "Get out, Maybourne. The transport isn't here yet."

"Colonel-" Maybourne rose to meet Jack's eye level.

"Leave." Jack's voice remained low, but his point was easily made.

Maybourne glared, "Very well. You might want to say your goodbyes. They are being extracted within the hour." He stormed out, his boots clicking down the corridor.

Jack breathed a sigh, releasing the tension in his body. He glanced down at Daniel, who was still sitting, staring in shock at the closed door. Abruptly, Jack saw his friend's body convulse as Daniel turned and threw up what little he had eaten. Jack immediately caught Daniel around the chest to prevent his suddenly weak muscles from making him fall. He was breathing hard, and shaking, but Jack kept a grip on him until he felt the man nod and grasp the side of the table, "Sorry." Daniel croaked out, "I just…" He trailed off, not really able to put himself into words.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I know."

Daniel's hands lost themselves in his sleeves as he scrubbed them over his worn face. He then wrapped his arms around himself defensively, and the pair sat in silence for a while, Jack content to wait before he got his answers. Daniel finally raised his gaze, and Jack was startled by its open sadness, "It's just…"He paused, closing his tired eyes for a moment before looking completely at Jack, "It was never supposed to be this hard, you know?"

Jack nodded. That was one thing he understood. "Yeah Daniel, I know."

Daniel shook his head in sad wonder, "We beat the Goa'uld, you know. Takes us years, but we actually do it. Free the Jaffa, the whole lot. But it never lasts. The universe just can't leave it be. The Ori came. And the Wraith. And the Replicators. It was never enough, whatever we did." He smiled ever so slightly, "I told you once, that I was scared, just after the Ori came. You knew it, I knew it. This time…this time our best just might not be good enough."

Jack couldn't pretend to completely understand what the future would hold, or what things Daniel had seen, but he knew enough. He smiled his best infectious smile, "Nah, never gonna happen." Daniel looked at him in plain askance. "Pessimism was the job of the universe before we came along and pissed everyone off. If just by sheer dumb luck, we'll always get through."

Daniel shook his head, "You don't know that."

Jack shrugged, "If you can survive the decade since the Stargate was stupidly opened by some dumb scientist, then you can damn well have the decency to see it through to the end."

Daniel blinked at Jack's simple words as his friend forcibly pulled him into a hug. When they pulled apart, Jack grinned lopsidedly, mirrored softly by the tired but determined man his friend would become.

And then the pair were pulled away by two beams of light.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: One little chapter after this. Daniel may have seemed to be a bit depressive again in this chapter, but I felt that he needed to just talk to someone like he used to in the earlier seasons. That, and I really wanted him to scare Harry :) So please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Author Notes: Okay, so I could have gone through the whole details of how they got back, but I decided it was a deviation from the general point of the fic. Hope you enjoy this last installment!

Chapter 10

Sam smiled as she entered Daniel's office, leaning against the doorway to take in the scene before her. Vala was grumbling softly in her sleep, spread out across the threadbare couch that sat in the corner. Her head rested in Cameron's lap, who was also dozing lightly. Teal'c sat opposite Daniel, placidly watching his friend as he typed away on a laptop, trying to deal with the backlog of translations. Any tiny piece of information might help against the Ori; they couldn't afford to miss one thing.

Sam suppressed a sigh. God she was happy to have the pair of them back. She had almost cried with happiness when Walter had announced that they were receiving SG-1's iris code, and they stepped through. They needed all the good news they could get, especially since they had lost contact with the Apollo and Atlantis. Vala had been, of course, quite vocal about the whole experience, relishing in describing the Daniel of Old to Mitchell. Sam had yet to gain the opportunity to talk to Daniel about the whole horrible mess, but she could tell that something had changed within her friend.

Everyone was oblivious to her presence, so Sam took the advantage, coming up behind Daniel, and gently slipping her arms around his neck in a hug. A few years ago, she would never have thought of doing something so casual, but as far as she was concerned now, they needed each other, however small the gesture. Daniel smiled tiredly, "Hey Sam."

Sam grinned softly, pulling back slightly, but still leaving a hand resting on her friend's shoulder, "How's it going?"

"Slowly." He replied honestly.

Teal'c shook his head, "You are selling yourself short, Daniel. I have watched you clear a considerable amount of work since your return."

Daniel smirked, "Been keeping an eye on me Teal'c?"

Teal'c merely looked at his friend with sparkling eyes, replying with a simple "Indeed."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sam saw Cameron blink awake, a confused look on his face, until he saw his lap being used as a pillow, "Hey! Dammit Vala, I can't feel my legs!" He poked her gently, relinquishing a squawk from the sleeping woman.

Sam laughed gently, "I just got off the phone from General O'Neill. He said he's glad you two got back in one piece."

Mitchell shook his head in wonder, "Yeah, he called every damn day since you were reported missing, asking for an update."

Vala smiled pointedly at Daniel, who merely shrugged, "Really?"

Sam nodded, "Personally, I don't think he'll ever get used to the paperwork; you can tell he wished he was back here. I've promised to send him your mission report when you've written it." Daniel groaned, "In case you missed it, that was a subtle hint replayed by General Landry via me."

"I'm kinda swamped here."

Sam shook her head, "You're not the only translator for the SGC, Daniel. If you were, you'd never sleep or eat; not that you do much of either anyway. I want you to leave these translations until it's done – and that's an order from me, pal." Her face grew serious, saying more in her expression than in her words, "You need to write about it."

Vala nodded, "Oh yeah, it's great fun, I detailed my little chat with Harry Maybourne in full. Great guy."

Daniel nodded, "Promise."

Teal'c rose abruptly from his seat, "Now that is all settled, I suggest we eat." He said it in a matter of fact tone, leaving the team no room for argument.

Daniel raised an eyebrow at the not so subtle hint, and quickly saved his work onto file.

* * *

General Jack O'Neill had the intense urge to turn the mountain of documentation that lay strewn across his desk into paper aeroplanes and aim them at his annoyingly chirpy assistant's head. Sighing, he prepared himself for another day of tedium and bad news from, well, everywhere. He turned his attention to his newly delivered mail, his eye caught by a rather thick envelope, marked classified. Due to the nature of Jack's job, his assistant had full clearance, so Jack didn't need to hang around to sign for packages personally, but this one caught his eye.

Grabbing the envelope, he roughly slit it open and found enclosed five reports, some thicker than others, with an attached cover letter from his friend and former 2IC, detailing the reports' nature. Smiling slightly, Jack took a moment to marvel how quickly Sam had put together the package, especially considering his prior experience with Daniel's lack of report writing, second only to his own in its lateness.

The first two were Mitchell's and Teal'c's; simple, which he would read later. Next was Sam's, which Jack also put aside, simply on the grounds that he was not awake enough to deal with her attention to detail just yet. Vala's was under that, the second largest in length. Jack flicked through it quickly, grinning as he caught a few choice phrases; that one would definitely be an interesting read. Last came Daniel's, the one Jack had most wanted to read. Before the whole incident, he had many conversations with Samantha, concerning her worries about Daniel, as well as a fair few from Teal'c. They hadn't been able to explain it, only that he had changed. Become harder, less open.

Jack frowned as he picked up the last report written by his friend. It was clearly a slightly different version from the official one submitted to Landry, as Daniel had directly addressed Jack at the start, exactly as he had when Jack was in charge of the SGC for a while. But it was not the report that intrigued Jack to read on. Instead, it was the tiny yellow post-it stuck in the corner. Written in Daniel's messy scrawl were two simple words:

_Thank You._

**FIN**

Author Notes: There you have it! I can only thank you all for the great support and feedback you've taken the time to send. A small word on how you thought it ended would be greatly appreciated:)


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